Etnies: One Party For Adidas, Two Parties For Us

As promised, posted here is the taped story on how skater shoe maker Etnies is playing Santa to rivals at Adidas. I broke the story yesterday that the privately held Etnies, which competes more directly with Quiksilver and Volcom is exploiting the cost cutting woes of a really big shoemaker, adidas, which cancelled all holiday festivities this year.

Etnies is traveling up from the OC to Portland Monday to take over a local bar and give away PBR to any adidas employee who wants to wander over from the firm's US HQ.

So what about Etnies' own holiday plans? VP Don Brown says they are not going out somewhere fancy this year, but having two parties in-house, one for marketing, one for everyone else. I asked which party will be better (I figure marketing's will be since they have money). In his faded British accent, Brown told me both parties will get "a bit sloppy" (code for drunken) and suggests the only solution is to attend both.

I hope to have eyewitness accounts of whether any adidas workers actually show for the Etnies party Monday. Heck, since it's Portland, maybe some Nike types will crash the place!